The Heist
by Riley Poole
Summary: They stole what was his, now he's taking it back. Silly little story, not much drama, a little action and absolutely not that serious. This was merely an exercise to try and remove my writer's block. Enjoy, there's just a little bit of swearing.


**A/N:** **Disclaimer** I don't own shit.

Alright so I was having some trouble with writer's block for my other fic Adventure, so I decided to try and write it out of my system. Here is a little ficlet I've been playing around with for a while. It's a quick read so don't expect epic-novel level detail and imagery please. I'm not that good, yet (I hope to be that good. Someday). If you're looking for my other story Adventure, I have only posted it on DLP and will continue to do so until it's finished, only then will I post it here. As for Lapdog, well, it's old but I'm still kicking it around. Maybe finishing Adventure and this will get me moving on that again.

**The Heist**

The day dawned, bright, warm, and filled with rush hour traffic in the busy shopping district of Diagon Alley. Men and women rushed about picking up the different items and such that they needed for the day. Mothers who had seen their children of to Pre-Hogwarts care centers meandered about, buying dinner and gossiping about everything under the sun. Fathers rushed about looking for last minute anniversary and birthday presents. Young teens fresh out of Hogwarts were looking for places to find a steady wage or just talk to people. All in all it was a usual day in the British Wizarding world after the fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort.

A man sat in the corner of the porch at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. It allowed him a generous view of the alley and the looming marble monstrosity at the end. His head was covered in a simple black ballhat and he wore a pair of sleek silver sunglasses. A sneer marred his face. He wasn't eating anything, but he held a Daily Prophet in front of him.

His dress attire was as nondescript as his headwear, simple dark colored shit, a light hooded sweater and a pair of black pants with a pair of trainers. Passerby who saw him quickly dismissed him as they rushed past, evidently forgetting the trouble that used to plague the Alley upon the visit of darkly dressed men. He ignored the masses in turn, his gaze set on the white marble building in front of him.

He was a hero and they had taken his money, all of it, simply for a few measly complications. It couldn't have been that expensive to replace the glass roof and sure, he had freed a dragon but it wasn't like they didn't have another two. The only thing that they had any real right to be mad about was the sword he had taken with him. The whole Imperius-ing of a Goblin might have a little to do with it. That didn't give them the right to steal his whole inheritance though. They had gone too far, and now he was going to take back what was his.

He peered around from the edge of his paper and noticed his cohorts waiting for the signal. He dropped the paper and double checked the duffle bag that sat at his feet. The contents were revealed to be a myriad of different tools that would be useful to this day. He zipped it back up and slung it over his shoulder, signaling with a nod and a touch of the hat's brim. The operation was about to begin.

He stepped through the first set of doors and stopped to read the poem that he had first seen so long ago. The corners of his lips twitched upwards before he steadied himself. He felt his Occlumency shields blink into existence, shielding his intentions from the wards around the building. The Vault Keepers stood at attention, halberds gleaming in the sun that bled through the high windows. He nodded slightly at them and continued forward.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he passed through unscathed. He glanced around and took note of how many tellers there were. He and his friends had figured that for every teller, they kept five Vault Keepers on call for security assistance that was not necessarily worthy of the impressive ward suite that was laid over the building. He smiled fully now as he noticed his friends filing in separately and spreading out. Each wore different dark colors, a hat and sunglasses, each also carried a duffle bag. He nodded to them and in one fluid motion he dropped his bag and threw his hands to the ceiling palms up.

As he did so, two of his team drew out odd little contraptions that resembled mouths with feet. They wound the keys on them and dropped them. The little toy-like objects scampered off to who knows where and began to make loud screams and general noises. Gold beams flew from his hands into the ceiling even as the other two of his team simultaneous locked the outer and inner doors into the building. The Vault Keepers on the other side banged on the door and screamed curses at them in Goblin. One of the two smiled and blew them a kiss. They were effectively stuck in their own entrance way with no way of calling for help.

Massive doors at the other end opened up to reveal the awaiting contingent of Vault Keepers who charged forward. They were covered head to toe in heavy plate armor made of a silvery material and they also carried halberd similar to the ones outside. As they ran forward, one of the team reached again into his bag and withdrew what looked to be a Muggle American football only covered in blue writing. He heaved it overhand and it sailed into the middle of the charging Goblin Brigade.

The moment it entered their midst a bright blue shield, the same color as the writing, exploded outwards, it passed through the armored guards until it encompassed all of them and then held. They ran directly into the now seemingly solid barrier and promptly put an end to the charge.

The man who was throwing golden light still had not moved from his spot as the four other team members went about brandishing their wands and holding out sacks. The few customers unfortunate enough to be trapped in the building swallowed heavily as they dropped their wands and things into the sacks. The golden glow dissipated and the man sagged slightly before drawing his own wand.

"No one will be harmed; this is simply a re-acquisition of finances that used to belong to someone very important. I promise that when I have acquired what was stolen, I will leave these sacks here at the main doorway and you may recover it when you are finished," the patrons were confused. They slowly looked to each other but no one had an answer.

While the man calmly spoke to the human patrons, two more were busy hauling the Goblin tellers from their seats and throwing them into the blue bubble. The Goblins spitting many a curse and threat at them.

"Sir, we only have thirty minutes until the shield runs out. We need to get moving," One of the men spoke, an strong Irish burr garbling the words a bit.

"No problem, just giving them a warning. Incarcerous." The group of humans were bound in thick ropes and pushed to the side.

"Alright men, let's do this."

*Meanwhile*

"Sir, we've received several communications from Diagon, specifically from Gringotts. It seems that a few patrons are stuck inside and family members who had been waiting outside are getting worried. Gringotts has gone into lockdown mode sir, and there hasn't been any kind of communication from them so far."

"Who's overseeing the wards schematic for Gringotts, Mr. Malfoy?" The minister pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation as he spoke. Draco flipped a few papers on his notebook.

"It's Theodore Tonks, Minister. He hasn't reported anything though.:

"Get me Auror Tonks on the Floo please," Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt murmured.

"Right away sir," Draco replied before moving to the large fire place set up across from the Minister's desk. With a loud call of 'Auror Department, Ward Schematics Hall, Gringotts Room' the fire turned green for a moment and after a short wait Theodore Tonks, affectionately referred to as Ted, appeared in the fire.

"What can I do for you Minister, sir?"

"Has there been any activity on the ward schematics for Gringotts, Ted?"

"No sir, all clear and green here. The most was an Floo call earlier, but that was just Bill Weasley leaving from his night shift. Other than that, it's been business as usual. Were we looking for something specific?"

"No Ted, it's just that Gringotts has been locked down according to passerby accounts in Diagon. Understandably it has left a lot of people confused and concerned," Shacklebolt responded.

"Well, the only thing I can think of is if the Goblins decided to do a drill. You know, the ones where they shut everything down for round half an hour without telling us until afterwards. It always gets some people's knickers in a twist."

"Ah yes, I suppose that's the most logical reason, but didn't they do that already this month," Malfoy reminded the Minister.

"No sir, not according to the records," Ted responded swiftly. His hand appeared in the fire next to his head with the mentioned monthly records. Draco took it and scanned the sheet.

"Hmph, I gues I was wrong Minister," he said, his tone slightly wary.

"That'll be all Ted, thank you." With that, the Auror's head disappeared from the flames and they dulled back to their usual burnt orange, warmth returning to the embers and the office.

"Draco, I don't like this," the Minister said to his aide, he took a small pause.

"Send me McLaggen and have Weasley, and Zabini investigate the branch please." Draco simply nodded his head and swiftly moved to his task. The Minister reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a small bottle of whiskey along with a glass. After pouring a small amount, he replaced the bottle and picked up his quill.

"Paperwork, my immortal enemy. You shall be brought to heel today," he muttered as he began filling out form after form.

*Deep Below Gringotts*

"Seamus has taken care of the dragons for now I think, Neville, Ron, take the first cart back up and see what you can do about holding off any reinforcements. Dean, get the vault open. I'll handle any rogue Vault Keepers while you're working," the leader, who had discarded his cap and glasses a short while ago, revealed himself to be none other than Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Won. His green gaze cut through the darkness, eyes glowing with the telltale sign of a night-vision charm.

Dean set to work crack the Goblin enchantments, pulling out several tools that looked Muggle in origin but sparked with gold and silver as it came in contact with the door.

"Shouldn't be more than eight minutes Harry," Dean called across the cart tracks. Harry simply nodded in satisfaction, They still had twelve whole minutes to get the vault open and then portkey away. He felt a vibration and a heating sensation in his pocket, he pulled out a small hand mirror and as it came up, a face appeared.

"Hey Harry, the Minister reacted like we thought, I think he's sending people your way anyway. McLaggen was dragged into his office about two minutes ago. He was pale as a ghost. I also heard that the lead Auror team was missing from the lunch crowd. Be careful." Harry nodded and stowed the mirror away. He flicked his wand and a ghostly white stage burst forth. It cantered a few feet away and then came back. It's head bent down and Harry whispered into it's ear.

"Ron, Neville, we're going to have Auror company soon. Put on the masks and keep out of sight. If they try to come through they shouldn't be able to make it unless they have a Portkey directly in by the Goblins. Entirely possible but highly unlikely. Harry, out." The stag bowed low once and then dashed off up the tunnels. A gout of fire blew from one of the side tunnels which Harry could hear the Irishman cursing up a storm before the sound of two clackers rang out once more.

"Dean, how long?"

"Three minutes," was the strained reply.

"I'm going to arrange our distraction out of here, As soon as it's open, throw the Black Hole in and we can get the hell out of here." With that last order, Harry dashed up the tracks towards the spot he had heard the yells and the roar of flames originating.

As he skidded around the corner, he had to duck as huge gouts of deathly orange and red flew over his head. Seamus had his wand point directly in front of him, holding a concave piece of rock that was curved away from him. It was slowly being melted and disintegrated by the heat of the two dragon's combined breath. Harry could see the sweat soaking his back as his cooling charms worked over time just to keep him from being cooked.

"Alright you fecking bitch. You wanna ava a go?"

"Seamus, time to enact Operation Destroy Shit Take Two," Harry yelled, summoning his own concave shield. Seamus's face lit up with excitement.

"About time ya wanker. Although, ya coulda picked a better name. Not really that impressive of a title innit? Gets the point across though I suppose." Seamus started to silence one of the clankers and backed up towards Harry at the same time, Harry meanwhile started up his own clanker. The dragons were confused for moment before they started to move in the direction that Seamus was backing too.

"On three I'm going to blind them, you cut you clanker and Portkey the hell out, alright? The wards holding the spot open won't last more than five minutes. As soon as you're out send a Patronus to Ron and Neville." Seamus just nodded, concentrating on his part.

The pair slowly got the dragons oriented towards the tracks leading up to the main bank building. Harry whispered an incantation and the Dragons suddenly found themselves blinded by a strip of cloth, held firmly in place. Since the magic was not affecting their actual bodies, it held. Seamus pulled out a Portkey and nodded at Harry before disappearing in a whirring show of light. The clanker in Harry's hands pushed the dragons forward and they started to meander upwards. Harry charmed the clanker to follow them and continue making noise for another three minutes and turned back to the vault.

"Dean how we doing?"

"The Black Hole is in and I've just finished locking it. Much eaiser to lock it than to open it, let me tell you," Dean called back as he finished shoving the Muggle shaped equipment into his bad. Harry grinned and watch as Dean also disappeared. He held up his hand in a manner reminiscent to what the Muggles were calling "raising the roof" whatever that meant. A silver bolt shot from his hands as he too was whisked away, his exit signaling the removal of the blind folds on the dragons and the clanker's irritating sound.

The dragons, seeing light up above and sensing freedom, flapped their monstrous wings. Within moments they had broken the recently fixed glass dome of Gringott's main hall and soared away, to the astonishment of Wizards and Muggles alike. The orb holding the Goblin's broke and the ropes around the bank patrons disappeared. The doors unsealed and every Goblin in the vicinity was shouting rapid Gobbeldygook as they attempted to figure out what to do.

Distraught relatives poured into the bank, hugging loved ones and just sobbing in relief. Through the mess stepped the Lead Auror Team of Blaise Zabini, Auror First Degree and Ginny Weasley, Auror Second Degree. The two looked around before finding the Goblin they were after.

"Rankgrot, we need to speak with you," Zabini spoke. The Goblin that was named spared them a glance before returning to issuing orders.

"That wasn't a request," Weasley snapped. Her temper was legendary in some circles. The Goblin simply raised an eyebrow.

"If you must speak human, than speak. As you can see we are somewhat busy with this catastrophe that was conducted by five of your own, you filthy apes."

"Well, that answers my first question. What did they look like?"

"You hairless apes all look the same, stupid, pink and squishy."

"Were they disguised?"

"Somewhat yes, they wore Muggle caps and Muggle sunglasses, dressed dark and three of them had duffel bags. The wards did not recognize any hostile intent, so we assume they were well trained in Occlumency. The leader managed to dismantle and re-build the wards without a wand. Anything more I cannot say since they disappeared below the surface and I could not hear anything through the bubble. Approximately eight minutes after they went down, two of them came back up and hid themselves, no doubt look outs to ensure security. They received a Patronus and drew out invisibility cloaks. Then a second Patronus appeared and they Portkeyed out. A few minutes later the wards were reinstated. Now you idiots, I have a bank to manage and a contingent of Vault Keepers to punish. Good day sir," The goblin spat out the last of his rant and swiftly turned.

"What shape was the Patronus," Weasley called out.

"A stag and the second was a Fox."

Ginny Weasley and Blaise Zabini looked at each other, and shook their heads.

"Goddamit, it's bleeding Harry Potter and his Marauders," Zabini muttered to her. She just nodded. They wouldn't find any other evidence and with only hearsay of a Goblin and no magical residue to be captured. They had no case.

"Fuck!" Ginny snapped.

That about summed it up.

**Just a little character list for those who are curious.**

Harry Potter – No real profession other than mucking about

Seamus – Trained under Charlie Weasley as a Dragon Tamer

Dean – Was a Ministry sanctioned Safe Cracker but took to crime for fun

Ron – Keeper for Chudley Cannons and also Muscle for Harry' Marauders

Neville – World Renowned Herbologist Master and explored, also Muscle for Harry's Marauders

Ted Tonks – Auror within the corps, may or may not be a "dirty cop"

Shacklebolt – Minister of Magic

Cormac McLaggen – DMLE Head

Draco – Shacklebolt's undersecretary with aspirations to the seat of Minister

Ginny Weasley – DMLE Auror Second Degree out of 10, 10 being an Auror still in academy

Blaise Zabini– DMLE Auror Auror First Degree,only two First Degree Aurors (The Head and the Older Lead Auror)

Rankgrot – Lead Goblin manager of Gringotts Day shift


End file.
